Transient mid-IR nonlinear refraction in air

We use the polarization-sensitive, time-resolved Beam-Deflection technique to measure the nonlinear refraction of air, exciting in both the near and mid-IR and probing in the mid-IR. This gives us the first measurements for air using both excitation and probe in the mid-IR, and we find no dispersion of the bound-electronic nonlinear refractive index, n_2,el(λ_p;λ_e), assuming, as has been shown earlier, that the nuclear rotational nonlinear refraction is nearly dispersionless. From these data, we can model the pulsewidth dependence of the effective nonlinear refractive index, n_2,eff, i.e., as would be measured by a single beam. Interestingly, n_2,eff is maximized for a pulsewidth of approximately 0.5 ps. The position of this maximum is nearly independent of pressure while its magnitude decreases with increasing pressure and temperature. From the measurements and modeling, we predict the nonlinear refraction in the atmosphere at different altitudes.